Reflection
by Nedak
Summary: The sequel to "A Snowy Day", Jeremy Fault was Jason's best friend from before the Yokai incident. After Jason moves away with Mizore, Jeremy happens to bump into a lonely blue-haired succubus. Shortly after, Jeremy is attacked and is only saved through Moka's blood, but she gives him too much. Against old and new enemies, what will happen to Jeremy and our monster friends?
1. Chapter 1: Blue

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" I yelled to myself as I looked outside. It just started pouring rain and I had forgotten my umbrella.

I just finished my shift at the coffee shop I had been working at for the past year. I got the job after my best friend, Jason, moved away with some girl from his school named Mizore.

I wouldn't say I was lonely, but I didn't have anybody back in Seattle anymore.

I ran through the rain as fast as I could to catch the bus. My gray hoodie covered my head as I heard the rain fall onto the almost deserted street around me.

I ran around the corner when suddenly, I run straight into this girl.

"Uh.. Are you okay?" I stand up and ask. I look at the person I just ran into with a small blush on my face.

She had bright blue hair and stared directly at me.

"I'm fine." Her depressed voice gave me a bit of a shock, but I shook it off. I reached my hand out and she used it to help her stand up.

Neither of us said anything before she started to walk away.

"Wait a minute!" I started to take off my hoodie. I held it out to her as she looked confused.

"You'll probably catch a cold... So here, take it." I smiled as she slowly reached up to grab the hoodie. She put it on but left it unzipped and smiled.

"It's warm." Her depressed voice didn't quite match the smile on her stunningly beautiful face. Rain slowly slid down her face as her blue hair sat soaked on her head.

"Don't mention it and don't worry about returning it." I looked up into the falling rain, feeling satisfied with helping someone. She started to walk away but I couldn't think of another reason to stop her but... her depressed voice made me worry.

I ended up deciding to follow her through town. Not once did she look back and see me as she stopped at a small park area. The rain kept pouring hard as I watched in almost complete horror.

The young girl pulled out a razor and held it over her wrist. A strange feeling swept over me as I ran over to her.

I grabbed the razor and held it away as she tried to get it back.

"Stop! Give that back! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She started to yell and cry slightly.

"What the hell am _I_ doing? What the hell were **you** doing?" I pushed her back onto the bench she was sitting on. A chill went up my spine as she looked down.

"It's _my_ life, why do you care?" She sobbed lightly as I sat down next to her.

"Everyone has a purpose. Maybe it's love, work, or even to just be **there**. You just haven't found yours yet." I rubbed my hand on the top of her head as she looked at me through the rain. A light blush had appeared on her face as the tears stopped flowing.

"So.. what made you feel like you have no purpose?" I asked, slightly curious. She didn't seem like she would fight me anymore on the topic, so I wanted to get to know her a little.

"I fell in love with this guy, but he never came close to feeling the same way... so I forgot about him. Then another guy came and, I don't know why, but I fell in love with him too." The blue-haired girl sighed and looked down. "He didn't feel the same way either."

I even felt depressed at her story. It was always one thing to deal with losing someone you love, but never having them at all?

Without much thought, I wrapped my arms around the girl as she stayed quiet.

"Let it out." I told her, she had hugged me back and gripped onto my soaking wet shirt. She wasn't hugging **me** , but was enjoying the embrace of another person that was there for her.

She cried hard and long too. By the end of it, the rain had stopped and a tired feeling swept over me. She sat silently next to me as me as she looked out over the park.

"Thanks..." She said quietly as she looked down. A confused expression spread over my face.

"For what?" I actually didn't uderstand what she meant until she explained.

"Y-You saved my life. I was going to end it all right here because I thought that I didn't have a purpose. So because of you..." She looked over at me and smiled.

"I'll try again." I was able to feel the distinct happiness in her voice as she spoke.

"My name is Kurumu. It's nice to meet you." She held out a hand as I shook it gently.

"My name is Jeremy Fault." I smiled at her, but her expression changed to confusion.

"W-Wait... did you say 'Jeremy Fault'?" She stared at me with a stunned look.

"Y-Yeah..? Why?" I felt a little uncomfortable.

"I knew Jason Winfield." Kurumu said this and my jaw dropped. I never thought I'd meet somebody from that secret school of his.

"R-Really? Did he cause you any trouble?" I worried, because Jason was always the dumbass since childhood.

"You just saw how much trouble he caused..." She looked down and my eyes widened.

"You mean..?" I couldn't believe it.

"I fell in love with Jason..." Kurumu didn't say anything else as we both sat there, looking down and I regretted asking.

I shifted around on the bench until I was comfortable. "S-Sorry." I stuttered.

"It's okay. I think that I'll give up on him anyway." Kurumu looked up into the sky.

I just sat and watched her without saying anything. We ended up sitting ther efor a while before I decided to ask her.

"Do you have a phone?" I asked. I watched as she pulled out a small blue phone and handed it to me.

After a few moments, I handed it back.

"I put my number on it so if you ever wanna talk... I'm there." She smiled as she sent a text to confirm the number.

"Thank you. I should get going now." Kurumu stood up and smiled down at me. "I'll talk to you soon."

"See you." I said as she walked off. I watched as she looked back over her shoulder and smiled.

My heart skipped a beat for a moment as I realized that she was different than normal people.

Maybe I just found **my** purpose.


	2. Chapter 2: Better

I wiped the small smear off of the table with a fiery vengance. I may not have been the smartest guy in the world, but at least I took my job seriously.

After wiping up the mess a few kids had made, I continued on to the back to get the mop.

I was pretty much in charge of cleaning, although I should be serving people their coffee. A long sigh slipped out as I dipped the mop into the bucket and started swiping it across the floor.

An annoying squeaking sound burned my ears every time I pushed the mop over the blue floor.

"How can people be this messy with coffee?" I wondered out loud. As I cleaned up I hummed quietly to myself. The shop closed about an hour ago, but I didn't get started on cleaning until now for really no particular reason.

I wiped my arm across my forehead as a small amount of sweat tickled its way down. I looked at the shiny floor, but sighed as I realized that I'd have to do it tomorrow.

Putingt the mop in the back room and, after returning the hat and jacket included with my uniform, I locked up the store and went outside.

The orange sun flashed into my eyes blindingly as I stretched and let the sun warm me up for a moment.

I started to feel a little lazy as I was walking, so I decided to sit down on a bench.

"Yo." I felt something hit in between my eyes and I opened them.

Kurumu stood in fron of me, bending over with her arm raised to my face.

"Oh! Hey Kurumu, was I asleep?" Immediately after asking, I let out a huge yawn.

"Yeah. You look pretty tired, rough day?" Kurumu asked. As she sat down, I could feel a lively vibe coming off of her as the orange sunlight was attacked by her bue hair.

"Nothing I'm not really used to... I just got out of work a little later is all." I leaned up against the back of the bench and looked at Kurumu.

"You have a job?" She wondered, her vibrant happiness didn't fade from the atmosphere around me.

I looked over before pointing. I saw Kurumu's gaze follow my finger as I spoke.

"I work over there, at that coffee shop."

"Wow. I don't really see you as the working type." Kurumu stuck her tongue out at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I blurted in response. All I got back was a laugh.

"Ugh, this is boring." Kurumu groaned. She played with ther hair as she sighed loudly. "Let's go do something."

"Well... what do you want to do?" I questioned.

"Hmm... Let's see..." She put her hand up to her chin in thought. Then, she put her fist into her palm.

"Let's go see a movie!" She stood up as she skipped around the area in front of me. "I know just the one!"

I smiled as I stood up and nodded. We both walked towards the movie theater as we continued to talk.

"So, Kurumu... Do you have a job?" I actually had been wondering that since I showed her where I worked.

Kurumu giggled at the question. "I couldn't keep a job if my life depends on it! That's why I kinda admire people that can will themselves to work at such a young age."

"I never really thought about it like that before..." I replied. As we walked, a large gust of wind blew Kurumu's hair back.

"Do you live by yourself?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah." I stepped over a large rock in my way instead of going around it.

"Oh... Well of you ever feel lonely, give me a call. I'll make it worth your time." Kurumu leaned in close.

"H-Hey! D-D-Don't give me the wrong idea!" I backed away flustered. I kept backing up, but I didn't look where I was going. Walking into a street light isn't a pleasant experience...

Kurumu started to burst out with laughter, but she snorted in the middle of it.

She clasped her hands over her mouth and her cheeks turned red. I started laughing and then she laughed too.

Once we both managed to settle down our laughter, we went back to walking. Neither of us said anything before we arrived at the theater.

"I'll pay. Go pick whatever movie you want to see." I told Kurumu. She nodded and went over to a small stand that listed the movies that were playing.

"That one." Kurumu said, pointing to one of the movies.

We got in line and bought our tickets. Then, we walked over to the counter and bought some popcorn.

The theater didn't have many people in it, the only people were either off to the side or in the top row of seats.

Kurumu and I walked over and sat down in the middle row of seats and got comfortable. Kurumu was already helping herself to the popcorn when the movie started.

It turned out to be a horror movie. It was about some guy that falls into nuclear waste. Then, he became some kind of weird monster.

I'm not really good at describing movies, but it was good. Kurumu seemed to enjoy it too.

We both walked out... but Kurumu seemed to be filled with energy.

"Wow! That was cool!" She said as she skipped around. The happy sight brought a smile to my face.

We both talked about the movie as I followed Kurumu around. She seemed to be feeling much better than when I met her last week.

"I live right here." Kurumu pointed to a tall apartment building next to us.

"I guess I'll see you later." I said, starting to walk off.

"See ya!" Kurumu yelled after me. I waved in response and started to walk home.

Along the way, I started to kick around an empty soda can. As I passed by a trash can, I scooped it up and threw it out.

A light breeze began to blow and I got a small chill, so I picked up my speed.

I started to look at a stray cat when I walked into somebody.

"Sorry." I told them. The person was around my age from what I could tell. His clothes were so... plain. Just a black sweater and tan work pants.

"Psh." He pushed through me and continued walking.

' _Nice attitude.'_ I thought with sarcasm. He looked back over his shoulder and I could've sworn that he grinned.

In the end, I dismissed my encounter with that other kid and kept walking home.

As I opened the door to my apartment, I stopped to think about my day with Kurumu.

"She's a nice girl." My voice explained to the empty room. Grabbing a drink from the fridge, another thought crossed my mind.

As I was taking a sip, it shot out of my mouth and into the wide open area in front of me.

"Was this a date?!"


	3. Chapter 3: Concern

A loud, happy tune hummed from my throat as I mopped the floor swiftly. Starting to feel a little hungry, I thought I would treat myself to something to eat when I finished.

I looked around at my now clean work place with a satisfied look. Putting my work clothes away, I got an uneasy feeling as I walked toward the exit.

Ignoring this feeling, I walked down the street with my hands in my pockets. It was pretty cold out, I was hoping I wouldn't get a cold.

"Hey! Jeremy!" I heard someone call out. I turned around to see Elizabeth running after me. I met her during work one day and we were friends ever since.

"Hey Liz." I greeted flatly. She happily skipped to a stop beside me and smiled brightly.

"Goin' home late again?" She asked. Liz was always this happy, no matter what.

"Just a little." I examined her and realized she wasn't wearing a jacket. "A-Aren't you cold?"

"Nah." Liz walked out in front and stretched her arms out like a plane. I smiled as I watched her childish behaviour.

"Ya hungry?" She asked, turning her head to look over her shoulder.

"Actually, yeah. I was just going to get something to eat." Immediately after I finished the sentence, my stomach let out a long growl.

"Then let's go to my place! I'll treat you." Liz giggled and started walking off. I followed close behind her as we strolled around.

We arrived at a small apartment building and she jumped up the steps.

Following her inside, I looked in slight shock at how clean it was.

Liz told me to sit in the living room area and I did as I was told. It took forever before Liz called me out into the kitchen.

"Holy crap! Did you do this?!" My jaw could've hit the floor if it went any lower. A large feast sat on the table, ready to be devoured.

"I sure did." Liz had a slight change of tone in her voice, but I didn't notice.

I found myself staring at her as she started to take off her apron.

"Something wrong?" Liz gave me a puzzled look as I shook off this weird feeling.

"No. I just thought that you look pretty natural in a kitchen. I bet you'd make a good wife." I took a seat, but I looked at a flushed Liz.

Not too long after, she sat down and dived in. It was more like a friendly competition for who could eat the most. I had worked up a serious hunger, but Liz?  
' _She's like a black hole!'_ I thought as I watched her eat more and more.

We both finished completely full. I managed to waddle my way over to her couch and crashed onto it.

This wasn't the first time I had been at her apartment, but it was the first time she cooked for me.

"So full." I mumbled out as I felt the couch shift beside me. I sat up to make room.

Liz let her head fall onto my shoulder. Instead of backing away or getting flustered, I just smiled. Liz was nice and she was a good friend of mine, nothing more.

Suddenly, an intense feeling of dread flooded through me. I looked around, alarmed at the set of eyes that were piercing my skin.

"Hey. What's the matter? You got all tense." Liz asked quietly.

The entire feeling vanished as I realized my current situation. "You were awake?!" I yelled.

"Sssh! You're too... loud..." Liz drifted to sleep, and this time for real.

I walked to her room and got a blanket to cover her with. Afterwards, I let myself out and started to walk home.

"What was that?" I wondered out loud. My mind went back to the almost paralyzing dread I had experienced. It was definitely something, but I couldn't figure out what.

Lost in thought, I ended up not paying attention to where I was going. I crashed right into somebody and landed with an "umph".

"Oops! Sorry." I heard a voice tell me. It sounded pretty childish, but honest too.

I looked to see a pink-haired girl looking back at me.

"Moka! Are you okay?" A young boy no older than me ran up behind her.

"I'm okay. I just bumped into..." She trailed off, not knowing my name.

"Jeremy Fault." I introduced myself as I put my hand out.

"Tsukune Aono. This is Moka." Tsukune looked over to Moka and smiled.

"Nice to meet you!" Moka said with a happy tone. Tsukune looked down to his wrist and his eyes widened.

"Oh no!" He yelled out. "Come on, Moka! We're gonna be late!" He grabbed her hand and started running.

"I'm sure we'll meet again!" Tsukune called out over his shoulder.

"Bye bye!" Moka sang out behind her.

Blinking a few times, I let it sink in before going back to walking.

' _Man... I've been meeting some weird people lately.'_ I thought to myself as I walked inside.

I took off my jacket and placed it on a coat hanger I kept near the door. Walking into the bedroom, I didn't bother turning the light on as I walked over and fell on the bed.

Feeling slightly exhausted, I wasn't able to actually sleep for a while.

Mostly tossing and turning, my mind was flooded with all kinds of thoughts as I stared at the wall. I let out a sigh as I thought about what Tsukune said.

"Meet again, huh?" I said out loud.

Eventually, I fell asleep.

I heard the small bell on the door ring as I cleaned few dishes in the back. I placed a few dishes aside before going out to greet the customer.

"Kurumu..?"

"Hi!" She sang out. She was wearing the hoodie I gave her when we met.

"What brings you here?" I asked. I pulled together a few things to clean the counter.

"Just thought I'd try out the place. Oh and I knew you worked here, so why not drop by?" She smiled, causing me to smile back.

I helped her choose something and brought it to her. I cleaned the counter and then I was on my break.

I walked over and sat down next to Kurumu.

"This is good." She said, taking a large gulp. We had a little chit chat before...

"Hey... Uh..." She looked like she wanted to ask me something.

"What is it?" I asked, wondering if she was okay.

"Have you... by any chance... seen somebody around? He's about this tall, has black hair, and wears a black sweater... Have you seen him?" Kurumu sent off an unusual vibe.

"Hmm... Actually I have. What about him?" My mind played a flash-back to a few days ago. I bumped into some kid, but he matched her description.

"Oh..." Her eyes widened and she let her head lower. I was starting to feel worried.

"J-Just stay away from him. He's not a nice guy..." Feeling the genuine concern in her voice, I sat back in my chair.

"Okay then. I won't go near him." She smiled and seemed to relax a little.

"Crap! Gotta get back to work!" I yelled as I looked that the time.

"Talk to you later!" She sang.

After that I went back to work.


	4. Chapter 4: Watch

Just as Kurumu had said, I did my best to avoid interaction with that kid. I didn't actually see him again, but I kept an eye out.

Making sure he wasn't around, I started to walk through a large crowd. It looked like there was some kind of anime thing happening nearby, and there were a lot of people here for it.

I looked all over and saw all kinds of cosplay people and tons of posters. It looked like it was for a bunch of different stuff too, but I wasn't too interested.

I was actually just incredibly bored and wanted to do something other than sit around in my apartment. Watching people chat and walk around, I noticed something odd in the crowd. It looked like somebody was forcing their way through.

As I continued to look, I noticed the blue hair that I was now familiar with. Pushing into the crowd, I began to folliw it until I caught up.

"Hey Kurumu!" I said with a smile. Seeing her here as I was just getting bored made me happy.

"J-Jeremy? What are you doing here?" She spoke quickly. It sounded as if she was worried.

"Just out and around, but what are _you_ doing here?" I asked. Looking at her, she seemed to be wearing her own cosplay.

"I-uh..." she struggled to speak.

' _Maybe she's here for the event.'_

"Are you a cosplay for this huge anime event?" I asked. Pointing to the wings on her back, I watched a thin long tail poke out from behind her as she looked at them.

"HUH?! Y-YEAH! JUST COSPLAY!" She gave a nervous laugh as I turned my head to the side.

"There she is!" I looked over in a hurry as I saw some really big guy shoving his way through the crowd. He looked angry.

"Kurumu who is tha-" I stopped as she grabbed my hand.

"Shit. We have to go!" Kurumu looked over to a small alley further through the crowd.

"W-Wait!" My face was completely red as she tugged me through the crowd.

The alley was a little smaller than she thought, so she ended up pressed against me as we both sat there.

"Kurumu! T-They're..!" She put a hand over my mouth as she told me to be quiet.

' _This softness is a sin!'_ I thought to myself as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

Kurumu's chest had been pressed up against me, but as much as I enjoyed it, it was wrong.

The guy from before pushed passed the alley, still navigating through the intense crowd. It took me until now to realize that there were two of them.

"I think we're safe now..." Kurumu backed away a little, but kept herself a little too close for my comfort.

"Can we get out of here then?!" I practically cried out. I flinched as she ran a finger down my chest.

"Sure! We can get a room~" Her eyes had a playful expression that made me gulp.

"Just kidding!" She got off of me and grabbed my hand. Pulling me away from the crowd, we got into a much smaller area before I stopped her.

"Where are we going? Also, who were those two guys back there?" Kurumu's hand dropped and she looked down.

"Jeremy... You're a nice guy, so I really don't want to lie to you..." Pausing, she took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"So... I'm afraid that I just can't say anything. Look, I can't tell you... even though I want to." I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

"A secret is a secret. I'll let you keep it to yourself. So, what's the plan now?"

Kurumu looked stunned for a moment, but looked up to the sky in thought.

"Well, we go to plan B." Kurumu pulled out her phone and it looked like she was sending a text. A few moments later, her phone let out a small notification before she grabbed my hand again.

My face turned red, but I didn't say anything as she started to yank me around. We ended up at some strange building. It looked pretty run-down on the outside.

"What's this?" Looking over at Kurumu, I let the question out easily. She smiled before looking back.

"This is where we'll be staying for a little while. I've got friends here... so don't think about doing anything pervy to me in my sleep." I flinched at the insult, but recovered quickly.

She brought me inside before I saw...

"Tsukune? Moka?" My brain couldn't accept the fact that they were both here.

"I knew we'd meet again!" Moka sat up and yawned.

"They're here!" She shot up from Tsukune's shoulder and jumped over the couch.

"We have so many games to play!" Moka grabbed onto my arm and pulled. My hand felt caught on something, I noticed that Kurumu was still holding it.

When she noticed she instantly yanked it away and blushed, which I thought wad cute. I didn't have enough time to enjoy it though as Moka pulled me over to Tsukune.

Moka started to pull out all kinds of games from under the couch.

"She's always like this. You'll get used to it." Tsukune leaned forward. "I did."

"Tsukune! You're making me blush..." A red-faced Moka said. Tsukune chuckled as Moka came over and sat on his lap.

When the two of them kissed, I had to let it sink in for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Moka asked, wrapping her arms around Tsukune's neck.

"I just... uh..." With no words to say, I just stared as the two of them started to get all cute together.

It was a little much for me, so I decided to get some air. Watching them be so... together... was actually making me kind of depressed.

I walked out and stood next to the door as I sighed loudly.

"You too?" Kurumu stepped out from around the corner of the building. Her blue hair blew gently in the breeze, making me stare a little.

"Yeah. I'm not really comfortable with other people getting that way..." Kurumu walked over and leaned against the wall beside me.

"Totally get what you mean. I can never seem to keep a boyfriend." She sat down and looked at the ground

I crouched down beside her. "I bet there's somebody out there. Just like there is for me... Maybe we already know them." As I smiled down at her, she let off such a soft smile.

"Maybe I did meet them..." She said as our eyes locked for a moment. The wind picked back up and blew her hair forward in such a way, it made my heart skip a beat.

"Sorry to ruin the moment." I heard the voice, but I couldn't tell who it was.

When I looked, I was met with a serious dread. The boy Kurumu had warned me about was standing there in the wind.

"Oh no..." Kurumu shot up. "Run!" She yelled as she looked at me.

I stood up, but only to watch something impossible

Kurumu suddenly had large wings coming from her back, the same tail as her "cosplay" outfit had as well.

"Wh-wha... Kurumu what is...?" I couldn't say anything.

"I'm sorry... There's no time to explain! Just run!" She flew into the air and straight at the kid from before.

Unable to move, I watched as Kurumu flew with her foot pointed right at the boy's head.

He raised an arm and stopped her in mid-air. Grabbing her foot, he threw her into the wall and I heard the building shake from the impact. Moka and Tsukune ran outside and, before I realized, the boy was after me.

I ran no more than two steps before he got in front of me. His fist hit with the same force as a rocket as the loud boom echoed.

Blood came from my mouth as I stumbled backwards. My vision blurred as I fell onto my back and looked in horror.

I noticed an extremely bright light next to me. Then, a girl kicked the boy away from me, but I couldn't see who it was.

I closed my eyes, but when I opened them again I was worried.

Everybody was standing around me as I sat completely still on the cold ground. Kurumu seemed to be yelling, but I couldn't hear anything. Tears streamed from her eyes as my hearing started going on and off.

"Save... Can't let him die... Moka... Something!" My eyes shifted to Moka. She looked older, as in her body looked more developed.

She seemed to be calm as I heard bits and pieces.

"I... want... but... danger... might not..." I couldn't quite understand what they were talking about. My eyes felt heavy as I returned my attention to Kurumu.

"Just... it... he... deserve... die!" Moka looked down at me before crouching down. Her hair had changed colors, but I didn't think about it at the moment.

She lifted me up and examined me before pulling my neck closer. My eyes closed and the last thing I felt was something on my neck.

It felt like a pinch. 


	5. Chapter 5: Broken

I kept hearing voices, but my eyes wouldn't open. My heart pounded loud in my ears and something felt soft underneath me, so I assumed they had brought me inside.

The veins in my neck pulsed and the area where I had felt a pinch earlier was now burning. My hearing started to fade out before I was yet again, unconscious.

My eyes shot open as I sprang from the bed. Looking around, the room seemed to be empty. When I looked down, I saw Kurumu sitting by the bed sleeping quietly.

I looked down at my hands in a slight confusion. My entire body felt... different. I didn't feel sick or like I was dying, but I didn't feel quite right.

My mind replayed when the boy had hit me and when I saw Kurumu suddenly sprout wings. I nervously crawled out of the bed and stretched.

Something small and white was just barely in my vision and it seemed to be on my head. When I reached up to grab it, I noticed it tugged my hair. Curious, I started to walk towards the bathroom.

I opened the door and looked into the mirror. Immediately, I gasped in confusion and shock. All of my brown hair was now white, and my aquamarine eyes had turned red.

I felt around my face and pulled on the hair slightly. Disbelief surged my mind as I looked at the spot on my neck. There were to small punctures on the base that still burned.

I felt them gently with my finger to see if they were healed. Not knowing what happened, I stumbled out of the bathroom in complete wonder.

Moka now stood in the center of the room. Just by looking, I could see she had her center of gravity towards her back, and was ready to fight someone.

I couldn't find any words to say or questions to ask, so I stepped forward slowly.

Moka flew at me with incredible speed and slammed her left knee into the side of my face. It stung like a bitch, but it didn't do any serious damage. My mind replayed when she had kicked the boy away from me.

' _Did she just kick me that hard? Why am I not dead then?'_ I wondered as I started to stand.

My body and mind were suddenly filled with an unbelievable rage. It felt like I should just destroy everything, kill everyone, but I tried to bottle it down.

Moka slammed her foot into my side and I went soaring out of a window. The glass scratched my skin as I fell onto the hard asphalt below.

I heard a loud thump and noticed that Moka had jumped out after me. Helpless, I tried to crawl away.

Picked up by my shirt, I looked into the blood red eyes of Moka as she stood, ready to finish me.

"Moka! Wait!" Looking over Moka's shoulder, I saw Kurumu scream for her to spare me.

"I can't!" Moka snarled. "If I don't do this now, he could kill all of you! He's a ghoul now, just a mindless killing machine."

"B-But...!" Kurumu shook as she was trying to think of a way to stop it.

"Wait!" I yelled out. Kurumu's eyes widened as well as Moka's.

"I don't want to die!" I yelled as I stuggled from her grip. She dropped me and I fell to my knees.

"C-Can a ghoul speak?" Tsukune called from somewhere I couldn't see.

"I've never seen it... but it's definitely possible. Whether he speaks or not, he's still a ghoul." Moka then started to approach me. I backed away after standing up and tried to think of something I could say.

"Please." I begged. Moka ignored my words and punched me in the gut. Small drops of blood came from my open mouth as I breathed heavily.

"I'm not going to do anything!" I yelled. Moka stopped for a moment and seemed to be pondering something.

"We can't be sure." She stood with her hands at her sides, but I knew she would lash out at me over any signs of danger.

"I don't know what's going on!" I shouted. My heart started to slow down and the pulsing in my neck faded. "What's wrong... with..."

Falling onto my knees, I felt incredibly weak and could feel the strength leaving my muscles.

"Moka, what's happening? Why does he look normal again?" Tsukune asked as he ran up behind her, still keeping his distance. I stood up slowly, starting to feel normal again.

"I-I don't know." Moka stated as she stared at me in complete disbelief.

"Does this mean you're still gonna kill me?" I asked jokingly. Kurumu walked up slowly and stood next to Moka, but didn't say anything.

After a few moments, they decided that, with Moka around, I could be left alive until we figured everything out.

I sat on the couch, ready to learn what exactly was happening.

"Do you think we can tell him?" Moka asked Tsukune.

"What choice do we have? He's already a ghoul and he's seen everything so far." Tsukune replied. Moka looked as if she wanted to argue, but simply nodded instead.

"Okay, Jeremy. I'm going to give you a crash course of the overall cause of this as well as the immediate cause." Tsukune rubbed his hands together as if he was giving a lecture, which he techincally was.

"The truth is... for years, monsters have lived with humans in a generally peaceful relationship. The only reason though is because monsters have been living in the human world _secretly,_ so no humans know they exist. I'm human, but I got sent so a school for monsters by mistake and met Moka, and eventually learned all about this. That's the overall picture." He took a deep breath as I nodded for him to continue.

"What just happened was... well, you were attacked. The damage was too severe for regular medical treatment. So you see, without a witch around to use healing magic, we were forced to use our last resort." Tsukune pointed to Moka as she stepped forward as if they had planned this "presentation."

"Moka is a vampire, one of the strongest monsters there is. If she gives you her blood, it can give you a small amount of her powers, and one of those is healing severe wounds. That however, came with a risk. If a vampire gives a human too much blood, they become a ghoul. A ghoul is a mindless being that only kills." He looked back to me before finishing.

"That's what **you** are... at least we _think_ that's what you are." He looked up to Moka.

"There's something different about you," Moka started. "You seem to be resisting the entire concept of the ghoul, and haven't tried to hurt us yet. Also, you're in a human state. This is something we've never seen before." Moka gave me some hope. What she said meant that I may be **allowed** to live, so long as I don't hurt anyone.

Tsukune, Kurumu, and Moka all looked at each other with worried expressions.

"So what you're saying is... I'm not human anymore, and you two weren't to begin with?" I pointed to Moka and Kurumu.

"Yes... You believe us, right?" Tsukune asked nervously. All three of them stared at me as I started to crack up. A long moment of just pure laughter concerned the three of them.

I laughed so hard that tears came from my eyes.

"Believe you? Do I _believe_ you?" I laughed a little more. "I don't really have a choice **but** to believe you. I mean... she kinda kicked me through a window." I chuckled as I pointed at Moka.

"What exactly is so funny?" She crossed her arms and seemed to have relaxed during the time they explained everything to me.

"I just can't believe how ridiculously unbelievable this is! Yet here I am, talking with a vampire!" I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Definitely **not** how I thought my week was gonna go."

All three of them relaxed after seeing me laugh at the reality of my situation.

"So that leaves me with two questions." I leaned forward in my seat as I looked at Kurumu. "What kind of monster are you?"

"I'm a succubus." She said with a calm but shaken voice.

"You mean like the ones that do lewd things to people in their sleep?" I flinched after realizing how offensive that must have been.

"Not exactly... You see, we just tempt men with our bodies. If that doesn't work, we look them in the eyes and use our special 'charm' and we do this until we find the one we want to be with." Kurumu replied. I nodded in understanding.

"Okay," Pausing, I leaned back before asking my next question. "So who was that kid that attacked us earlier?"

All three of them became stiff and tension filled the atmosphere.

"His real name is Adam, but he's recognized by his nickname Anatomy." The moment those words left Moka's mouth, my brain made a connection.

"You mean _the_ Anatomy? The one from The Kings?" I spat the question out through instinct. I recognized the name because he was one of the top members of that gang and they were all over the news. They probably could've taken over Seattle if they tried, but recently their activities had stopped or weren't being noticed.

"Yes." Moka simply responded.

"How did you guys meet him? What's he after _me_ for?" Now there were hundreds of questions floating around in my brain.

"That we don't know, but we have an idea." Kurumu said softly. Then I heard one sentence that changed everything.

"It's probably because they're still after **Jason**."


	6. Chapter 6: Confrontation

I sat on the bed in the room I was told to stay in. Kurumu and Tsukune took turns watching me to make sure I didn't try anything. They both considered me a friend, so the company was enjoyable, but the circumstances were less so.

Moka didn't trust me at all and would be back to beating me to death if I did something wrong. However, we had a much larger issue at the moment.

I learned that Jason had something to do with The Kings, but I didn't let any of the three people with me explain. That's why I sat with my phone in my hand, ready to send the text I had just written.

"Jason, it's been a while! Come back to Seattle, and bring that girl too. I know your secret." That wasn't it word for word, but that was basically it.

Taking a deep breath, I hit "send" and waited for some kind of response, but got nothing.

The next day I was sitting down talking to Tsukune when Kurumu walked in.

"I'll take watch over him for right now." She said with a normal voice.

"Uh, okay." Tsukune stood up and they spoke for a moment, but he left and went to talk to Moka, who had been keeping watch since the day I got attacked. I understood that something about Moka was strange, but didn't know exactly what to think.

"How are you?" Kurumu asked as she sat down next to me. She was oddly relaxed for being so close to a blood-thirsty ghoul.

"I'm okay. How long are we gonna be here?" I asked as I looked around. My room was a little small and was incredibly worn. The paint had been scratched off or faded and in many places the wallpaper had peeled.

"Probably not for much longer." She said. Kurumu shifted around on the couch to get comfortable.

"Shouldn't you be more on edge? I am a blood-thirsty ghoul after all." I joked. Kurumu giggled and looked at me with soft eyes.

"You wouldn't hit a lady would you?" I let out a small chuckle. We kept chatting for a few more moments when I got a text from Elizabeth. I told her I was a little busy... and probably couldn't get to work anytime soon. Liz gave me crap over the phone but stopped after three messages.

Then my phone vibrated again. I looked up into the notification bar at the top of the screen to see that I had a new message. My heart raced as I wondered if it was from Jason.

I was right. Jason had replied that they were back in Seattle and would be with the rest of us soon. It seemed that one of the three other residents here had contacted him without me knowing and explained a little more than I did.

I honestly felt a little angry with Jason. I can understand that je loved this girl and that he wanted to have a life with her, but he didn't have to just leave. He didn't even say a goodbye or anything, it was as if he forgot about his childhood friend.

"Oh, Kurumu. Are you worried about seeing Jason? I mean after-" Kurumu cut me off in a way I didn't expect. She started laughing lightly before answering.

"Nah, I'm over it."

"That's good." I replied with a smile. Hearing that she was okay wasn't really enough to make me believe her, but it still made me feel better. Tsukune walked in and informed that now was a good time to tell me a little more about Moka.

"Okay, so Moka.." He rubbed his hands together like he did the last time. "She's a vampire, a super monster. Vampires are one of the most dangerous monsters in both worlds. Moka's different however."

Tsukune paused for a long moment. "Moka's true power is sealed away by this rosario." He held up a large cross that had a small loop at the top used to connect with a chain. "When it gets pulled off, her true form is released. We call her Inner Moka." My mind fumbled with the words for a bit before I came to with a conclusion.

"So... This Moka and the one I met before are two different people?" I asked.

"Yes and no. Moka has a split personality I guess you could say. Inner Moka is how she was born, but Outer Moka is who she is now. However, they're both still Moka." I don't think it's actually possible to completely understand it. So, with a throbbing headache, I nodded.

Basically I summed it up to, "necklace come off=Scary Moka."

That was when I heard a knock at the door. Not my door, the door to the building. Each member of the group we now had entered the living room and looked at each other nervously. I noticed Moka walk into the room.

Nobody said a word until the knock happened again.

"It's okay. You can open it." Moka said deeply. That meant she knew who was behind the door. The atmosphere relaxed a little, but we were all still wondering who was there.

My mind began to wander on and on about who it could be. Then I remembered that Jason would be coming back today, so maybe it was him.

Nobody moved as the knocking repeated for the third time. Realizing nobody was going to open it, I started to walk towards the door.

As I reached for the doof knob, I suddenly felt extremely nervous. My hands shook and sweat rolled down my cheek.

I opened the door slowly with my eyes to the ground. As I looked up, I noted the clothing.

Black boots, dark jeans, blue t-shirt, and a leather jacket. My gaze drifted up to the silver hair that sat neatly on the figure's head.

Then I looked him in the bright orange eyes. It made me feel uneasy as he stood motionless in the doorway.

His innocent appearance was washed away by my recently acquired knowledge. He wasn't what he seemed. Jason wasn't who I thought he was.

"Uh..." I tried to say something, but my mind was blank.

Jason stepped forward and into the building with a girl close behind him. She was shorter, purple hair, blue eyes. I assumed that she was Mizore.

Jason took in a deep breath and started to speak.

"So... Guess I've vanished and still started trouble, huh."


	7. Chapter 7: Explain

"Welcome back!" Moka called out. She was back to the pink haired version of herself and ran up and hugged Jason, but only for a brief moment before returning to Tsukune's side.

"Hey Kurumu, how have you been?" Jason's voice was calm but also slightly shaky.

"I'm okay." Kurumu looked over to me and Jason's eyes followed.

"Hey buddy, glad to see you aren't dead." Jason reached his hand out towards me. I shook it firmly and it made me smile.

"Sure thing, but you're still causing me trouble after all these years." We both laughed a little before Jason took a seat on the couch.

"Jeremy, this is Mizore. She... She's my wife." Jason looked over to the smile on the pale girl's face. They held hands and as I looked at them, I noticed the rings.

"C-Congrats." I said, taking a seat across from him. "Hey guys, you mind if I fill him in? I've got some questions too..."

Moka, Tsukune, and Kurumu all nodded and started to leave the room.

"I'll give you some time alone." Mizore said as she stood up. "Nice to meet you." She held a hand out and I shook it gently.

'Cold!' I stared as she walked out of the room, probably going to talk with the other three.

Jason stood up and walked over to the window. "So... how much do you know?" His hand was in his pocket hand his other was supporting him against the wall.

"Enough to have questions. How long were you with them?" Jason got straight to the point, so I did too.

"Long before I met you, that's for sure." He turned around and leaned against the wall. A dark look filled his eyes.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" My arms moved on their own as I started to feel slightly angry.

"To keep you safe." He sighed as he closed his eyes. "They're dangerous. My plan was to disappear and then maybe, they'd give up. They went after you instead."

"Who are you?" I asked. Jason looked up at me with his same calm expression, but I could read that he was slightly offended as I looked him in the eyes.

"I'm Blaze, the pyro of The Kings. Long before I went to Seattle, I started The Kings as a kid looking for a thrill, but it got out of hand." Jason moved off the wall and walked around as he spoke. "Then, after I got hurt, I met Gale." Jason snarled his name as he clenched a fist.

"He took it from me and turned them all into murderers, and I wasn't able to stop him. He made all of us kill people, and some of them couldn't take that. They lost it, I lost good people to him like that." The moment of silence reflected the anger I could feel from inside him.

"After he attacked the school, I tried to disappear again." I listened to his explanation with wide eyes.

"That's who I am." Jason let out a deep breath before falling back on his position on the couch as he finished.

"So what exactly is your situation?" Jason raised an eyebrow as he waited for a response.

"I was attacked." I told him. "I would've died if it wasn't for Kurumu, she convinced Moka to give me blood but... I turned into a ghoul." Jason's eyes widened and he leaned forward.

"You mean-" I cut him off as his jaw dropped.

"I'm no longer human." An awkward silence fell over the two of us. We could hear the other four in the room beside us talking because of how quiet it was.

"I-I see." Jason leaned back in his seat with a confused look.

"I forgot to tell you, I was attacked by a friend of yours." Jason looked back up to me yet again as he waited for me to finish.

"Anatomy?" He took the words right from my mouth.

"Yeah, who is he?" I asked, slightly curious as to the identity of who tried to kill me.

"He was one of the original members of The Kings. I defeated him back during thr fight at Yokai, but I didn't kill him. I doubt he'd do this on his own though... so that means..." Jason jumped up with a look of fear.

"That means he's taking orders." Jason ran over to the door that the other four members of our group were chatting behind.

"Jason? What's wrong?" Mizore asked as she walked up to him.

"We've got a problem. I think I figured out what's going on."

Kurumu, Moka, Tsukune, and Mizore all came out to the room Jason and I were talking in and sat down.

"Jason, what happened?" Tsukune asked. Jason was pacing in front of them, seemingly thinking.

"Anatomy isn't one to do something like this on his own. Trust me on this one, I've known him for years." Jason started to mumble to himself as everyone waited patiently.

"So he wouldn't be after you guys like this. Moka and Tsukune, you guys haven't seen him after Yokai, right?" Moka and Tsukune looked at each other.

"No, never." Tsukune said as he looked at me. "Not even whilst we followed Jeremy."

I didn't really care that they were following me, probably since returning to Seattle. Jason probably did that to protect me, but I was more worried about what he was trying to say right now.

"Anatomy follows orders. He's good at listening to them and he's good at carrying them out. That means that somebody gave him this order." He looked at all of us. A paranoid feeling was set over the room as his eyes stayed wide.

"Somebody knows who all of us are, what we're capable of, and where we are right now." Everyone in the room exchanged glances before returning their eyes to Jason.

"What does this mean?" Moka asked with a scared expression.

"It means somebody just as powerful, maybe more powerful than Gale is after us. Somebody with authority, somebody with an advantage." Jason took a deep breath before he finished.

"The only question is..."

"Who?"


	8. Chapter 8: Attacked

Each person in the room froze. Everyone exchanged worried glances at the realization that Jason was probably right. Fear swept through the air like a virus, infecting all of us as we sat motionless in the room.

"T-Then what do we do?" Tsukune barely spoke louder than a whisper. Nobody else said anything before Jason looked down.

"I don't know... but I know how to slow them down." Jason was attacked by worried eyes as he started to explain his plan.

"I have a place underneath my old apartment. I set it up after the battle at Yokai, just in case something like this happened." Kurumu stood up and walked over to him.

"You really think that'll work?" Jason shook his head.

"No, I never said that. What I'm hoping is that they'll leave us alone long enough for us to think of something. That, or we end up leading them straight to us and we'll know who it is." Kurumu's eyes widened along with everyone else's.

"I'm up for it." I stood up and walked over to the fridge and got a glass of orange juice before returning to my seat. "It's not like we have any better ideas."

Everyone nodded in agreement. We all got ready to leave, but just before we did...

A loud crash sent everyone flying into the living room, ready to take on the person that caused it. Jason stopped dead when he saw who it was.

Short black hair, black sweater, tan work pants, and that cocky smile. The sick look in his eyes made me gulp.

"Sorry to drop in like this, just wanted to talk for a while." His stance widened and I watched in horror. Ever since I was turned into a ghoul, I could feel some kind of energy off of everyone. I knew that's what it was because I could tell Tsukune had none or very little, but Moka's was immense.

Anatomy's shoulders grew slightly wider, muscles bigger, and energy stronger. Large horns emerged from his forehead and his dark red eyed pierced my very soul. Large, bone-like structures had appeared from his elbows, so I could only assume it was some form of weapon.

His foot crushed the ground beneath him as he lunged straight at Moka. Tsukune pulled her down and barely managed to save her.

Mizore jumped and hurled ice at him, which I assumed was in her monster form. Jason had begun burning him as he ran in zigzag formation, dodging the chairs and furniture Anatomy was throwing. Kurumu went in during any openings she found and was going for the eyes.

Jason jumped over Anatomy's arm after he missed a punch. He brought his foot down on Anatomy's head and it made a loud thwack.

Then Anatomy went after me.

As he leaped forward, nobody could stop him as his fist went straight at my face. What happened next even stunned me.

I ducked under his fist with unbelievable speed. I felt the veins in my nech pulse as my fist went straight into his gut. I could feel energy flowing from me at a terrifying rate.

As Anatomy recovered, all of the others stopped attacking and watched my showdown with him.

Continuing my attack, I planted another fist in his gut. As he hunched over, I gave him an uppercut that would've sent him flying through the air, but I grabbed his leg and stopped him. I slammed him into the ground and walked over to where his face was.

He jumped up and swung an elbow bone at me. Stopping it with my hands, I used it to pull him in before kicking him in the chest, knocking him over.

I got down on my knees over him and hit him in the face. Again and again, I couldn't stop myself. My thoughts were disgusting, all I wanted to do was kill him.

During my pounding, there were several occasions where he tried to fight back, but each time I countered and then continued beating him.

When I snapped to my senses, I looked around to see everyone staring at me, seemingly terrified.

Looking down at my hands, the drops of blood dripped onto the unconscious enemy under me. I stood up and stumbled back, the pulsing in my neck was slowly fading as I watched Jason walk in front of everyone, trying to calm them down.

'So this is a ghoul?' I thought to myself.

As he looked over his shoulder, I could feel the genuine fear coming from his eyes. Breathing heavily, nobody got too close to me as Jason and the others carried Anatomy into another room.

After a while, Jason came out to see if I was okay.

"You okay, man?" He asked, looking around me for injuries.

"I'm fine, are the others still afraid?" Jason didn't reply as he finished looking around.

"Luckily, you only knocked him out. I'm gonna see what I can get out of him when we wake him up." Jason reached a hand down and I used it to stand.

Still a little off balance, I walked with him into a room where everyone else was. Anatomy sat in a chair, tied up beyond belief.

"You guys might not want to see this." Jason reached to his left and grabbed a bucket of water from the floor. He dumped in right over Anatomy's head, waking him up slowly. Everyone started to leave the room, I tried to follow, but Jason grabbed my arm.

"I'm gonna need you." His voice was dark. Dark enough to scare me.

Jason threw the bucket at Anatomy, it made a clunk sound as it bounced off his head.

"Ow! Now that was just rude." Anatomy laughed before Jason got serious.

"Shut up! Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Jason pushed his neck to the side, letting out a loud pop.

"The hard way sounds like more fun, doesn't it?" He started to laugh again. When he was finished, Jason stepped in front of him, cracking his knuckles.

"You sure about that?" Jason said, Anatomy smiled with another sick look in his eyes.

"Sure as I'll ever be! Bring it, you fucking lighter." Anatomy spit on Jason's shoe, just asking for it.

"All right..." Jason began.

"Hard way it is."


	9. Chapter 9: Questions

Jason nailed Anatomy in the face, hard. Hard enough to make the chair rock slightly.

"Yes Papa! Hit me more!" Anatomy laughed before Jason pulled his hand back and hit him again. This time, a loud pop made me flinch. Anatomy spit out a tooth.

"Not cool man, I don't get more of those." Jason was obviously pissed. He seemed so out of character like that.

"Who's after us?" Jason leaned right down next to Anatomy's face as he started asking him questions.

"Some people." Anatomy smiled. Jason hit him in the gut hard enough to almost knock the chair over. I stopped it and set him back up.

"Who!?" Jason yelled. His personality was gone. The Jason I knew was completely missing, but instead was replaced by something dark.

"Could you stop yelling? Look I don't know the guy, but an old friend of ours does." Anatomy's smile made me cringe. Jason took a step back and thought for a moment.

"What are they planning?" Jason went right back to the plan.

"Fuck you." Anatomy laughed again, seemingly enjoying himself. Jason kicked Anatomy over. Then, after walking around to his head, kicked Anatomy in the side of the face.

"Ow! Dick move, man! Dick move!" Anatomy was no longer laughing as I set him back up.

"I'll ask you this one more time. What are they planning?" Jason slugged Anatomy again before Anatomy smiled up at him. Blood running from his nose, Anatomy's smile chilled me to the core.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, cupcake." His laugh made my heart stop. Something was seriously wrong with his head, and he knew it too.

Jason yanked off his necklace. "Hold the chair."

"What are you doing?!" I got worried at this point. Monster or not, I didn't think Anatomy could take much more.

"Just hold the fucking chair, dammit!" Jason yelled, a large aura surrounded his body. He held his hand out flat and a triangle of fire appeared.

Doing as he asked, I went behind the chair and held it flat. Jason, with a look of desperation in his eyes, put one foot up on the chair as he slowly started to lower the flame to Anatomy's chest.

"What are they planning?" His growl made me shiver.

"Oh my! Isn't that scary?" As Anatomy laughed, Jason closed his eyes and pushed the flame into Anatomy's chest.

His screams of agony were likely heard by the girls and Tsukune. I couldn't watch exactly what was happening, but I had an idea. Anatomy was thrashing, trying to get away before Jason removed his hand.

"TALK!" Anatomy took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.

"Think of it this way. This city is a room with one door, and no windows. _We_ , are the darkness, and we want out of this room. The problem is, there's one, single candle in front of the door. That candle is you. What they want is to get out, so that means you're the only thing in our way." Anatomy laughed before taking a deep breath. The maniac was still smiling, even after what Jason just did.

"Don't you get it? You're nothing more than a candle, and pretty soon, we'll blow you out." He laughed one last time.

"I'd get going now, they'll probably have that old friend of ours pick me up soon." Anatomy looked right at Jason, who punched him one last time and then was out cold.

"That was brutal, what did it all mean?" I didn't understand a word Anatomy said, but it seemed like Jason did.

"The person that gave him the order, they want to destroy the city." Jason walked out of the room leaving an unconscious enemy alone.

Following after him, I turned the corner into the main room where everyone was standing, staring at the door. When I looked, my heart stopped.

The light was shining directly into the door, so I couldn't see much. I could barely make out dress clothes because of how messy they were. When the figure stepped into the room, everyone took a few steps back.

Still investigating the figure, I saw white hair and blood red eyes, much like Inner Moka. The smirk on his face sent an unbelievable chill up my spine.

"Long time, no see." His voice was clear but raspy at the same time. His energy was overwhelming as it filled the room around us.

"RUN!" Jason threw a massive fireball at him, engulfing the entire room in flames. Somebody grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me threw the broken window that Moka had kicked me out of before.

Kurumu was flying away with me at what seemed like top speed. I watched Jason carry Mizore as he jumped out of a window, breaking the glass without any thoughts. Moka and Tsukune were somehow below us and were keeping up nicely.

Just within eyesight, I saw the person from before, standing in the windows after seemingly walking through the fire. Absolute terror consumed me as he looked straight at me.

After running for nearly an hour, we were at Jason's apartment when he went into the alley next to it. He pushed on a spot on the ground and a piece of the wall popped off. After everyone was inside, Jason pulled the chunk of wall back in.

Food and water were everywhere, as well as beds, but not enough for all of us.

"How is this possible?" Kurumu asked. Tears were forming in her eyes as she looked at Moka.

"I thought you killed him!" Moka was nearly crying as well. Jason sat on a chair with his hands on his forehead.

"I did!" Moka yelled out. Mizore sat quietly next to Jason, trying to get him to relax, even just a little.

"He isn't alive! I know I killed him!" Moka started to cry as Tsukune tried to calm her down. Kurumu slumped against a wall with her hands in her face.

I didn't know who this person was, but I knew they were bad news.


	10. Chapter 10: Answers

After spending a long time like that, Jason stood up and walked around the room. He mumbled to himself as everyone stared at him, looking as if the hope had been drained from their very souls.

"Jason, do you have any idea how this can happen?" Moka asked cautiously.

"No, I-I don't know." His voice shook as Moka shrank back down to her position under Tsukune's arm. Not seeing her bright and cheery was making me depressed, it wasn't natural for her to be worried or upset. Thinking some more, I looked over to Kurumu who was still sitting at her spot on the wall.

"You doin' okay?" I asked as I sat down next to her. She grunted and I took it as a "no".

"He killed two of our friends." Kurumu's eyes softened as she told me that.

"Wh-Who is he?" A little nervous about asking the question, I got a less than comforting response.

"That was Gale." Jason answered for me, seeing Kurumu bury her eyes in her sleeve. She wasn't crying, but was likely about to.

"You mean-" Jason interrupted me loudly.

"Yes, the one from my story. The vampire that even gave Moka a run for her money. The one we killed." Jason flinched as he hit his hand on his head a few times.

"How could he be alive? From what you said, Moka was right in front of you when she-"

"I don't know, okay? I don't know anything at this point. It's probably some kind of magic or something, but we don't understand it yet so I don't know." Mizore saw the need for him to cool down and stood up.

"Jason, you need to calm down." She put a hand on his cheek as she spoke.

Jason let out a long sigh. "I-I know. Jeremy, I'm sorry." I nodded and waved away the apology. I was able to understand that this entire situation must have been hard for him.

"Come relax for a bit, being worked up and irritated won't get us anywhere." Mizore kissed Jason's cheek and pulled him over to a sofa where they sat down and talked quietly.

Looking over at the other sofa, I saw Tsukune and Moka relaxing too. I was too confused to be worried, but I couldn't relax either. I decided to just sit down and think about nothing in particular.

"What are you doing?" Kurumu's voice said from behind me. I turned to look at her with a smile.

"Just thinking." After I said this, I realized what I was thinking about.

"About what?" She sat down in a chair next to mine and rested her chin in her hand.

"About how Gale could be alive." My response made her sit back up.

"Excuse me?" As she blinked for a bit, I thought about the most logical thing.

"If there was even a second where you guys took your eyes off of him, maybe he could've been switched out with a magic double or something." Kurumu's eyes widened as she took in a deep breath.

"You're a genius!" She grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me in. Then she kissed my cheek.

I sat with a red face as she pulled me by the hand to tell the others. None of them were happy about discussing the topic, but they all knew it was needed.

After I told them my idea, they all seemed to agree.

"That's probably the most realistic answer." Jason's approval was somewhat like a child getting a reward for a chore.

"Now the only questions are... Who saved him and why?" The mood sank back down at realizing we were getting more questions than answers.

We decided to call it a day before we got too worked up again. Also, it was getting late, so we would be going to sleep soon.

The bed issue was being worked out by everyone as I sat alone in a chair and stared at the soda in my hand. I took the last sip before throwing it across the room and watching it land right in the trash.

"Okay, we've worked out the bed issue..." A red faced Kurumu said from beside me. It startled me because I didn't see or hear her walk up.

"Okay... Why's your face all red?" I asked innocently.

"We have to share a bed together." She shrugged away slightly as she looked up at me through her hair.

"Okay so- WHAT?!" I screamed after the words sank in. A dirty fantasy went through my head as Kurumu nodded.

"The couch isn't big enough for one of us to sleep on, and there are only three beds. One for Mizore and Jason, one for Moka and Tsukune, and one for me and you..." When she got to us, her voice got extremely soft and quiet.

I was taking deep breaths, in and out. My brain was completely switched off.

In the end, I couldn't find a way to argue against it because of our situation. The others seemed to get a real kick out of it.

"You two are so cute!" Moka yelled like a child.

"I'll kill you!" Kurumu said in a higher than normal voice.

"Are you two sure you're okay with this? We might be able to work something else out..." Jason was being friendly but... I could tell he was enjoying it too.

"I-I'm okay with it." Kurumu took a step back and pointed at me. "Just as long as those hands aren't feeling up my figure!" She leaned in real close and winked.

"Not that I blame you.~" I cringed at the fact that she was making it worse. At this point, I was betting she was having fun with it too.

"Okay then, lights out." Jason said, he grabbed a small string in the middle of the room and tugged. The room was almost pitch black, but you could see if you tried hard enough.

I crawled into bed next to Kurumu, facing the other way of course. Her soft breathing helped me sleep for some reason.

The next morning...


	11. Chapter 11: Light

Something rubbed my face as I started to wake up. Eventually, I caught on to the unusual amount of effort it was taking to breathe. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was a familiar yellow color, but I couldn't remember what it was from.

I tried to sit up, but something seemed to hold me down. Not quite worried yet, I felt around to see what was holding me there. Around my neck, a loose piece of what felt like clothing was gripping tightly.

Feeling towards my face, something underneath the cloth felt soft and somewhat... bouncy. It was just then that I noticed a pulse on the side of my head.

I strained my eyes to look as far up as I could and I saw blue. Then I realized...

' _WHAT?!'_ I screamed it mentally because if she woke up, she might kill me. I was buried in Kurumu's chest.

The soft and steady breathing told me that she was asleep, but the strength she had was incredible.

A pair of walking feet near the door almost made me jump, but I realized it was my only chance.

"Hey! Who's at the door? Hey!" Whisper yelling, I tried not to move as Kurumu mumbled for a moment.

"Yeah?" The voice I heard was female, but I couldn't tell who because of how loud my heart was.

"Help!" When they grabbed the door, the noise nearly made me scream. "Quiet!"

"Jeremy... What are you doing?" The voice had turned to a whisper, something cold got close to my neck and gently pulled Kurumu's arm off of me.

I leaped out of the bed, not making a sound as I looked at my savior.

Mizore stood with a slight bend by her hips, her hair was messy with a lollipop in her mouth, and she was wearing a really big black sweatshirt with ripped up jeans.

"Thank you so much!" Out of instinct, I got on my knees and shuffled towards the person that had just saved my life. I grabbed her hand and gave it a nice soft kiss.

"Thank you! Thank you!" I repeated this over and over until I realized what I was doing. My face burned red as I shot back up. "I'm sorry!"

Mizore stood completely still, a very light blush over her face as she looked down at her hand, then back to me.

"I'm married." Her icy chill made my spine freeze as I clapped my hands together, softly of course.

"I know, forgive me!" Mizore chuckled as she patted my head.

"Forgiven." The smile on my face made me feel stupid, but it was genuine. I heard another set of feet at the door.

"Hey what's going on in- OH SHIT!" Tsukune whispered the last part the moment he saw Kurumu. He then turned and bolted the other way.

"Huh? What's-" Mizore's icy hand went over my mouth as she let out a whisper.

"Quiet."

"Hmm?" I muffled out through her fingers. She turned my head to see Kurumu, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Mizore pulled my arm, telling me to move quietly out of the room. Not knowing what was going on, I followed her until Kurumu saw us.

"Hey... W-What are you two doindine..."

' _She's sleeping?!'_ The voice in my head exclaimed. Then, Kurumu's eyes shot open and looked directly into Mizore's.

"OH FU-" Suddenly, Mizore became completely silent and stood still, removing her grip on my arm.

"Mizore?" I waved a hand in front of her face to see if she was okay. Her eyes seemed distant, more than usual anyway.

Then, she fell on me so quickly that I barely caught her.

"Hold me!" She cried out. Nearly crapping my pants, my head spun with fear as I let out a small yelp.

"Help him!" I heard. Jason got shoved into the room with Moka close behind.

"Did Kurumu look her in the eyes?" Jason asked, holding a hand up to his eye closest to Kurumu.

"Y-Yeah, what's wrong with her?!" My voice was loud again, but it didn't seem to bother Kurumu.

"Kurumu's powers kinda go into overdrive in the morning, I forgot to tell you." Jason seemed to be afraid of the girl on the bed.

"So what do we do no- MMMF!" Mizore had yanked my head down into her chest. It was odd, being cold yet soft.

"Hey! Come on man, that's my wife!" He ran forward and yanked her off of me.

"It's not my fault!" I yelled.

"What happened?" Kurumu yawned out. I looked over to see the innocent figure sitting sleepily with blue eyes staring into mine.

"Jason! I'll share myself with both of you!" Mizore moaned. Jason and I both flinched. He picked Mizore up and shook her a few times.

"Ugh..." Mizore shook her head and looked around. She seemed to have a bit of a delay, but the memories of what she did seemed to come to her.

Blushing, she turned around and slapped me. The burning sensation nearly confused me because her hand was so cold.

"Come on, it's not his fault." Jason grabbed her shoulder gently before she could kill me.

"I know." The completely calm feeling she had made me realize that it wasn't an outburst.

"He's pretty fun to slap." Mizore smiled as she looked back at me. I was rubbing the side of my face when I heard her.

"Really?" Moka asked. She casually strolled up beside me and looked at me.

Then she slapped me in the face.

Everybody laughed, except for me. Vampires kicking your ass is one thing, but getting slapped was something else.

I could hear the ringing for hours afterwards.

"Sorry about this morning..." Kurumu said as she sat down next to me. She was a little close, but I was too focused on keeping the ice against my face.

"It's fine." I still didn't tell her about how I woke up, and just as I thought about it...

"Hey, uh... Do you have any idea what happened before that? My boobs feel kinda sore, like something was against them all night." I locked up completely.

"Nothing!" I yelled. Kurumu poked my face because of my response.

"Liar. What happened?" She scowled for a moment.

"You didn't touch me, did you!?" She yelled, standing up and pointing at me.

"No, I swear! I don't _want_ to die!" I yelled back.

"I wouldn't kill you..." Her expression softened. "In fact, I wouldn't mind. I just want you to wake me up next time, okay?~" The wink nearly knocked me off of the seat.

Then Kurumu froze for a moment, blushed, and walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" I mumbled.

Then I heard a scream.


	12. Chapter 12: Darkness

*Sorry for not uploading in a while, I've been busy with school. Here's the next chapter!*

I ran in the direction and realized it was where Kurumu went. Just after getting around the corner, I saw Kurumu standing in the doorway to the main room.

"Kurumu? What happened?" My eyes widened in horror. A large hole in the wall let me fill in the details.

Someone had managed to find us, and what they did...

Blood was on the floor in large amounts. A few bodies sat motionless on the floor.

Mizore, Tsukune, and Jason were all on the floor. The blood from their bodies was everywhere. Moka was in a corner, huddled in a ball.

Moving my eyes back to the bodies, Tsukune had a large pipe in his hand, most likely to be used as a weapon. Jason had no obvious injuries other than a scratch on his cheek. Mizore was beside him, holding his hand as she too sat on the floor.

Kurumu collapsed to the floor, but I didn't notice. I stepped forward slowly to notice that Mizore wasn't breathing, none of them were.

Mizore's hair had a bright red streak through it, and blood had been splattered on her face as well. Her cold eyes were still open as she stared at Jason.

My knees wobbled before I fell next to the two of them. I couldn't think of any words to describe the feelings of that moment.

I looked over at Tsukune. I hardly knew him, but he was a good guy. Fun, caring, and so friendly.

Jason, I knew him since childhood. He was a bit of an idiot at times, stubborn quite often, and there was more to him than I could've imagined. My best friend, childhood friend, practically my own brother was dead on the floor in front of me.

Next to him was Mizore. I could see what he saw in her. She seemed so cold in a way, but so human too. She was understanding and had plenty of emotion. She was just different in her own unique way.

A single tear rolled down my cheek before the rage filled me. My neck felt like lava as my skin nearly boiled. I had to grab the side of my head as the pounding from the emotions was devastating.

At this point, I was guessing my hair and eyes had changed color as well.

These three amazing people didn't deserve to die. They shouldn't have.

My scream was the loudest sound I could have ever imagined. It was more like a roar really.

Around me, a dark red aura violently danced around my body and the roar continued for nearly a minute. After it was finished, I stared at the bodies of my friends.

I placed a hand on Jason's chest, probably out of confusion and denial. He was cold, and there was no pulse.

I looked back to see Kurumu. She was still crying, but also looked afraid of me as well.

With nothing left in me, I brought my hand down on Jason's chest which, beyond all odds, did something.

He gasped for air, breathing deep and fast as he clutched his chest.

"M-Mi..." It was then that he turned his head to see the body next to him. His breathing stopped as he sat up, removing his hand from her final grip.

"Mizore?" He crawled slowly forward and held her head up. "Please."

I could only watch him as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Mizore! Please, no!" He stroked her hair as he stared at her cold eyes.

"Don't leave me... Why?" He lowered his head to her chest and sobbed, hoding her lifeless hand.

"Dammit, why? Why? Why?" Jason's cries were loud and long before he started to lose himself.

"Mizore!" He screamed her name as he pulled her up to him.

His tears stopped as he held her silently.

"Why didn't you bring **her** back?" He asked. Jason looked at me.

"I can't live like this. Not without her." His voice was lacking emotion, but it disguised itself as anger. Then, he looked at me.

"Try." His arms trembled as he screamed at me. "TRY!"

I nodded even though I didn't know if I could. I held my hand over Mizore's head and suddenly, a bright red light appeared from my palm, but it did nothing.

Whatever hope he had left just drained from him as he sat with the love of his life, dead in his arms. No more tears, just nothing at all.

Moka was in even worse shape. I walked over to her, but she wasn't entirely here. Her mind had been damaged by the loss.

Tsukune had a large gash on his throat and over his chest. Even if I tried, there was no way to save him. Tsukune was dead for sure, I didn't even know how Jason was alive.

Looking back at him, he was very gently picking up Mizore in his arms. Silently, he carried her into the other room and I assumed was putting her on a bed.

"I'll kill them." Jason's voice had no emotion. Kurumu still cried by the door, unable to move. Moka was still shaking, and I didn't expect either of them to recover completely.

I was still in a rage state. Actually, I was unable to speak. The only things that I could think about were the different ways to rip somebody's heart out, or throat, whatever one kills faster.

I simply nodded.

Moka had now moved over next to Tsukune and held his wrist in her hand. She manipulated his hand to grab her rosario and pulled it off.

Even Inner Moka was badly damaged by the loss, but she was still functioning.

"This was Tsukune's last request." Inner Moka said, standing up. "I swore that if he died, I would release myself and never seal away again. Just so that the other one can't hurt herself."

Jason had no response and I just grunted.

That's when we hear the scream.

"Jason!?"


	13. Chapter 13: Revival

I'm so sorry for not uploading, I've been pretty busy. Between school and some of my other hobbies, I've been really distracted... Enjoy!

"That sounded like..." I started, now able to speak all of a sudden. The only response was a loud thump from Jason as he fell over. Jason scrambled to his feet as he ran to the other room.

Kurumu and I followed closely behind, thinking the same thing as Jason.

"Jason! Jason? W-what happened?" Mizore sat straight up on the bed Jason had placed her on. He held her tightly in his arms, sobbing softly with a smile on his face.

"I thought I lost you." His voice was steady despite his crying, Kurumu was just staring. She walked over and hugged Mizore too.

I didn't get involved, since I still didn't really know her. That feeling of relief was beyond anything else. Kurumu backed off and Jason moved back in, now kissing his wife in front of me for the first time.

"What about Tsukune and Moka?" Mizore asked, she still had failed to notice the streak of blood in her hair.

"Tsukune..." Jason paused and took a deep breath. He knew the impact that he was about to have.

"Tsukune didn't make it." The look in Mizore's eyes were far beyond painful. It looked like she had been tortured.

Mizore sat for a moment before burying her face in her hands, crying quietly. Moka entered the room and tried to comfort her.

"You didn't make it either." Moka said, the mature voice was quite soothing.

"What do you mean?" Mizore asked in response. Moka turned to Jason as he nodded for her to continue.

"You, Jason, and Tsukune all died. Jeremy was able to bring you back, but Tsukune wasn't able to be saved." Mizore looked at me with painful eyes, but they showed some comfort.

Kurumu stared as well and soon, the entire room had their eyes fixed on me. It had taken until now to realize that I wad back to normal, but something felt a little off.

"We have to do something about him... We'll have to leave here, but we can't just leave Tsukune like this." Mizore seemed to have collected herself as much as possible.

"We'll bury him outside." Moka said. The inner side of Moka seemed so cold and unforgiving, but I could feel the pain in her voice. Inner Moka was still Moka and no matter how hard she would try to deny it, she felt something for Tsukune too.

In the end, that's what we did. The five of us took Tsukune outside and dug a large hole in the asphalt of the alleyway. We placed his body inside and did our best to give him a nice grave.

Kurumu had broken down into tears after saying her final goodbyes. I walked up and gently held her hand but in response, she threw herself on me in a weeping mess.

Moka's was the hardest to listen too, because it was likely the last that any of us would hear from Outer Moka. Inner Moka seemed to disappear as she cried after speaking for Outer Moka and how much she'd miss him.

Jason came after, and damned himself for causing this. He claimed it was all his own fault and that he should've just left Tsukune out of it.

Mizore was steady as she said her final words as well. She refered to the many times that she felt happy including when he chose Moka. She claimed that this let her move on, and thanked him as well.

I came last. It wasn't quite as emotional as the others because I hadn't known Tsukune for very long, but I knew enough to say a few things. He was a nice guy, one of the nicest you'd meet in a world like ours. It wasn't fair that he didn't make it, and he was going to be missed.

We all had a heavy weight on our shoulders as we walked away. Not being able to give him a proper burial was something we could never fix because of our circumstances.

Jason had taken us to a warehouse in the following hours. It was really old and it started to crack along the concrete floor. All the doors were rusted and some even came off of their hinges as we opened them.

He said that Gale had used it one year ago, during the attack on Jason's school. It seemed abandoned, do Jasonsaid it was probably the safest place to hide.

The rooms had started to rot away but the two remaining ones were shared by the five of us.

Kurumu and I took one room as Jason, Mizore, and Moka all agreed to share. Everyone was silent on the way to the warehouse and the heavy atmosphere was killing me.

"I wish we could've gotten back together under better circumstances.." Kurumu sighed next to me. Tensed up, I was trying not to move because Kurumu was right next to me in the bed.

"Uh... Me too." I spoke softly, nervous about being too loud. We were sharing the bed, but facing opposite sides.

Kurumu wiggled around for a moment to get comfortable, but her leg brushed mine in the process.

"Sorry." She said flatly. Now both of us were stiff. I could feel my face start to get warm.

"Jeremy?" I flinched as she tried to start a conversation.

"Y-yeah?"

"Have you ever had somebody stuck in your head?" Kurumu's odd question actually caught me off guard.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, confused by how to answer. Kurumu rolled over and grabbed my shirt from behind. Completely frozen, I could feel her breath on the back of my neck.

"You just can't stop thinking about them no matter how hard you try. Everything you do makes you think about them but... It's not a bad feeling. It feels nice to think about them all the time, and being with them is even better." Her fingers squeezed tighter on my shirt.

"I-I think so." My thoughts were clear, but I couldn't get the words out the same way.

"You do? Who is it?" Kurumu's voice became just more than a whisper. The soft tickle of her breath on my neck almost made me shiver.

"It's you." My jaw opened wide immediately after I said that. I was sure the person _she_ was talking about was somebody else.

Instead of a loud yell or a slap, I heard a small giggle. The grip on my shirt started to fade before it was gone all together.

"I see." Even though I couldn't see it, I felt Kurumu's smile.

"Who's the person you think about?" I asked her with a gulp.

"Goodnight, Jeremy." Kurumu giggled again before rolling back over and leavinge in the dark.


	14. Chapter 14: Strategy

"Ugh." Groaning, I sat up slowly and looked around. I was still in the same room as the night before, but Kurumu was nowhere to be found. Gently, I rolled out of the bed and stretched my arms above my head.

The pulling felt great on my exhausted muscles. Then, suddenly a flash of pain streamed througg my body. It was so intense I fell on one knee, but I stood back up after shaking it off.

I walked over and slid open the heavy metal door and glanced around. The voices I was hearing were coming from a few doors to my left, so I started walking.

When I entered the room I was met with concerned looks and a feeling of fear. Before Moka could get close, Jason put his arm out in front of her. Moka stopped and they both made eye contact for a brief moment before she nodded.

"Jeremy, how are you feeling?" Jason asked with a serious tone.

"Huh?" I yawned loudly before giving an answer. "I feel fine, what's up?"

Mizore stepped out from behind Jason and held something out in her hand. I took it before realizing it was a mirror.

"Oh!" I exclaimed at the sight of myself.

My hair was white and my eyes were red, but my skin was so pale I could almost see through it. When I ran my fingers through my hair, it pulled out a nice bit of it.

"Oh, wait a minute." I started. I suddenly began to feel dizzy. "I don't feel so good."

I immediately collapsed.

The feeling in my body had turned into a numb, prickly feeling. My mouth started to feel dry and I suddenly felt incredibly weak. As the others rushed over to me I felt something run down my lip.

It was blood.

Then I coughed up blood as my throat started to burn.

"What's going on?" Jason yelled frantically. His hands hovered over me as if he was going to do something, but he didn't know what to do.

"He's starving." Moka said calmly. Her silver hair almost touched the floor as she crouched next to me. "He needs to eat someone's flesh, that's what ghouls eat."

"What? No way! There has to be another option!" Kurumu rejected.

"Well perhaps..." Moka reached for me and Jason handed me over.

She pushed two fingers into the back of my neck and something happened. It felt like two long sticjs had just been jammed into my mouth.

"He has fangs. That means he might only need blood, but we still need a volunteer." Moka and the others looked at each other. "It can't be me, he might die if I give him more of my blood."

"I'll do it." Mizore looked at me with a strange expression. "It's the least I could do, he did bring me back from the dead after all." The others nodded in agreement.

Moka explained that it had to be from her neck, because it was the richest. I wouldn't need as much of it that way.

Mizore stepped over and sat down in front of me. As she started to lower her shirt, I felt a primal urge to feed. With new strengt, I reached up and grabbed her shoulders. Pulling her in close, I bit down on her neck and drank.

It was disgusting but also great at the same time. I pulled off after only a few seconds and an extreme pleasure flooded me.

Mizore didn't have the slightest change of expression as she slid her shirt back up and walked back over to Jason.

Within moments I had my strength back, but my hair and eyes remained.

"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen again soon." I said loudly with a grin.

"So, what were you guys talking about anyway?" My voice felt a lot stronger instead of weak and shaky like a moment ago.

"Oh, we were discussing our first move. You're actually a big part of it." Mizore looked at me with warm eyes, but the air was still pretty cold.

"What do you mean? What am I doing?" Jason motioned for me to come over and I followed. The table he pointed at had a map with a single area circled.

"We're going there after midnight." Jason pointed to the circled area on the map. It was a mall parking lot.

"Uh... Okay." My confusion must have carried through my voice.

"We have to figure out what'vs going on, especially if that was the real Gale or not. Either way, we're going to have to take him out again." Jason paused and took a deep breath.

"That means we have to find them." I gave a nervous look.

"How is this going to help?" Jason smiled, but a worried look came through the rest of him.

"Oh, we don't. We have to let them come to us." My eyes blinked without my consent.

"That's crazy! They might just kill us instead." Jason pointed at me.

"Not quite." He started to walk around the room. "We have a nice little trick."

"Hello." The voice I heard was one I never heard before, and it was right beside me. Naturally, I jumped and let out a yell.

"Who the-?" I examined him a little more closely. He was pale, with short purple hair and blue eyes. His most notable feature was his lollipop.

I looked at Mizore and back to the other person.

"I'm her brother. My name is Kazuki Shirayuki, nice to meet you." Kazuki stuck his hand out and I shook it.

"I'm Jeremy Fault, it's nice to-" I paused.

"COLD!" Ripping my hand out of his quickly, I rubbed my other hand against it to try and warm it up.

"Gah! Frostbite!" I spun around in circles, waving my hand around like a maniac.

The group laughed at my stupid display.


End file.
